Airplane



March 24, 1925. 1,530,737

v R. PAzos-MARTINEZ AIRPLANE Filed oct. 1a, 1921 s sheets-sheet 1 1,530,737 R. PAzos-MART|NEz March 24. 1925. Y

AIRPLANE Filled Oct. 18, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 2,4. 1925.

- R. .PAzos-MARTINEZ AIRPLANE Filed'oct. 1s, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 um; n n f m l l f 1 M 1 f n Patented "Maia 24, 1925. l

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD PAZOS-MARTINEZ, F LGS ANGELES, CALIFOBiNIA.

AIRPLANE.

Application filed October 18, 1921. Serial No. 50S-AM.

vided by this invention comprises a plural-l ity of planes mounted on acarrier which may, as l hereinafter point out specifically, be in the form of an endless chain carried on spaced wheels so that it has a. part-moving rearwardly relatively to the machine and. a part moving forwardly relative` to the machine. The planes are mounted on the carrier so that they are'mlovable to various positions relative thereto and means is provided for selectively holdin'g theplanes in various positions relative to the carrier at vario-us parts of the carrier t-ravel, for causing them to take positions at certain parts oi the'carlrier travel so that they `form a sustaining means and also a propulsionineans for the machine. The means for selectively holding the planes in various positions relative to the carrier at various parts of the carrier travel permits of the planes being held to form a sustaining plane for the machine when or while they are at the forwardly moving portion of the carrier and 'in position to form propulsion means when they are at the rearwardly moving portion of the carrier, or permits of the planes being held relative to the carrier to form propulsion mea-ns for the machine at the forwardly moving portion of the carrier and be held relative to the carrier to form a sustaining plane while they are at the rearwardly moving portion of the. carrier. When held in the first mentioned manner themachine is sustained and is propelled forwardly, and when the planes are held in the second mentioned manner the machine is sustained and the propulsion means tends to drive the machine. rearwardly. In accordance with the invention thc above mentioned mechanism is under full control of the operator sothat he can cause the mechanism to operate in either of the manners just specified, at will. For instance, in practical operation, if the mechanism is ,operating in the first mentioned manner andthe machine is being propelled inv a forward directionl and it is desiredto make a landing in .a very limited space theoperator cause the mechanism to operate in the second mentioned manner and thereby 'cause the machine to stop very quickly.

rlhe generalitiesof the present invention as weil as the details'thereo will be best and more fully understood from the following1 detailed description of a typical form an embodiment of the invention throughout which reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a more or less diagrammatic side elevation of the machine provided by the in'- vention and is al View showing the propulsion and sustaining means in position to drive the machine forwardly; Fig. 2 is a d@ can at the proper time f more or less diagrammatic plan view of the y i machine shown 1n Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a dialgrammtic view of the taining means provided by the present inventlon showing it in position to operate in a manner to tend to ordrive Vthe machine rearwardly, being a view showing the propulsion and sustaining means in the position which is the reverseof that shown in Fig. l. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical detail sectional view ol the mechanism showing it in the positipn indicated in Fig. l and being a view taken as indicated by lines 4-4 on Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a. verticaltransverse scctional vi ew of the machine taken as indicated by line 5--5 on Fig. 4;`Fi'g. 6 is an enlarged vertical detail sectional view of the parts shown at Ain Figs. 1 and 4; Fig. 7 is a plan section taken as indicated by line 7 7 on Fig. 6; Fig. 8 isa detail sectional view taken as indicated by line 8-8 on Fig. 6; and Fig. 9 is a vertical detail sectional view taken as indicated by line 9-19 on Fig. 6.

Throughout the drawings numeral 10 designates the body of' the machine and numerels 11 designate, the propulsion and sustaining unit or means provided by the present invention and arranged in connectionV with or mounted on the body 10.' In the particular machine which I herein set forth for the purpose of illustratingv my invention there are two propulsion and sustaining means, one at each side of thebody, and these means or units are arranged at the upper part of the body so that the sustaining plane is above the center of gravity of the propulsion and sus.

machine. means being at opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the machine tend to hold it in lateral equilibrium. 1t will be obvious that the particular arrangement and number of propulsion and sustaining means may be varied and Vthat the particular number and arrangement of propulsion and sustaining means set forth in this disclosure of the invention is only typical and for puroses of illustration.

The body 10 which I have shown in the drawings is of more or less conventional design and construction. An operators seat 12 is provided in the forward portion of the body and suitable elevating planes 13 and a rudder 14 are provided at the rear end of the body. Power means 15, preferably an internal combustion engine such as is commonly used in machines of this character, is carried in the body 10 for the purpose of operating the propulsion and sustaining means 11 provided by the invention.

In accordance with the p-resent invention each propulsion and sustaining means 11 comprises, generally, a plurality of planes 16, a flexible carrier 20 for the planes, preferably in the form of an endless chain, spaced wheels 21 for carrying the carrier so that it has, when in operation, a course ino-ving substantially rearwardly and a course moving substantially forwardly. When the carrier 20 isin the form of an endless chain the wheels 21 may be sprocket wheels and the carrier may be operated by rotating one of 'such sprocket wheels. In the machine `illustrated in the drawings the forward sprocket wheels 21 of each of the propulsion and sustaining means 11 are mounted on a single shaft 22 supported transversely of the body 10 in a bearing member 23 mounted on the top of the body 10. The rear sprocket wheels 21 of the two propulsion and sustaining means 11 are mounted on a singlel shaft 24 carried transversely of the body 10 at an elevation somewhat below (for a reason hereinafter explained) that of the shaft 22 by a bearing member 25, mounted on the body 10. 'lhe driving connection between the power means 15 and the propulsion and sustaining means 11 comprises a countershaft 26, a bevel gear drive- 27 between the shaft 28 of the countershaft, and a chain drive connection 29 between the countershaft 26 and the shaft 24 on which is mounted the rear sprocket wheels 21 of the propulsion and sustaining means. The invention of course is not limited to this particular driving connection between the powcr means and the propulsion and sustaining means and it will be obvious that various arrangements and constructions other than the one just mentioned might be advantageously employed.

I will now proceed to describe in detail The propulsion and sustaining 'a supporting or sustaining plane.

'shaft than on the other, so that wind pressure will cause certain movements of tlie` planes as hereinafter described. Sprocket wheels 21 have teeth 34 which co-operate with and carry the links 30 vand 32, and have openings or recesses 35 between certain of the teeth 34 for the reception of certain mechanism which is carried by the links 30 and which will be hereinafter described in detail. The construction and operation of the chain 20 and sprockets 21 is very similar to that of an ordinary chain and sprocket construction and will be readily understood from inspection of the drawings. The links 'are made relatively long so as to 'give to the chain a. good stability in supporting the planes 1n their selected positions against wind pressure. Each link 30 is formed with a bearing 38 which lrotatably carries the shaft 31 transversely of the chain. shaft 31 extends on either side of the chain 2O and has fixed on it at each side of the chain a plane 16. shaft at the two sides of the chain form pairs, and are preferably of the same size and weight so that they balance each other and are 'fixed on the shaft 39 lso that their surfaces are coplanar. The shaft 31 bein Y rotatably carried in the bearing 38 ofth' links, the planes 16 can be swung or rotated to various positions to lie in various planes.

In operation when the links 3() are at the rearwardly moving course. of the chain and the planes 16 are positioned so that they lie iii a. substantial] v vertical plane they will obviously act upon the air in a manner which will cause the machine to be propelled foi'- wardly; and when the links are at the forwardly moving course-of the chain and the planes are turned or disposed so that they are substantially horizontal or lie substantially parallel to the course, then they form In the particular machine illustrated in -the drawings the rear sprockets 21 being somewhat below the forward sprocket wheels, the several planes 16 at the rearward moving portion of the chain when iii a vertical position will act continuously on new air and will not follow directly in each others paths in a,manner to merely churn the air` and the planes at the forwardly moving course of the chain, when disposed so that they lie in The planes 16 on eachl The f the plane of such course, cooperate to, form Fig. 3) to a horizontal position and as they a more or less continuous sustaining plane. This sustaining lane will have an angle of incidence dependbnt upon the relative vertical loca-tions of the forward and rear sprockets; and further, this plane, due to the flexibility of the chain, will take, under the air pressure,`a curved shape (see Figs. l and 3 that will give best reactance on the air. k en the planes 16 carried by the several shafts 31 are held in the manner or positions just described, the machine will be.` propelled forwardly: and the. direction ot tr( vel of the air relative to the machine will be that indicated by the arrow E in Figs. 1 and 3. Assuming for example that the chain is operating so that its uppermost course travels rearwardly the planes 16 upon being released when they reach the rear sprocket wheel 21 and decrease their relative rearward movement by virtue of moving around the sprocket, will be carried by the movement of the air relative to the machine in the direction indicated by the arrow at that point in Fig. 1 and will, if not restricted in any way, assume and keep a substantially horizontal'position. They vwill thus reach the position relative to the chain in which they are held while they are at the forwardly moving course of the cham. The change of position of the planes from normal to parallel to the cha-inwill commence at the time the planes reach the rear sprocket 21 and will be completed at about the tlme they leave the rearmost sprocket wheel 21 lwhere the chain is also substantially horizontal. The planes upon reaching the forward sprocket after being at the forwardly moving course of the chain willy if released remain in a substantially horizontal position as they pass around the sprocket, being held in that position by the air movementrelative to the carrier. While-remaining in a horizontal position as they pass around the forward sprocket wheel 21 the planes will reach a position transverse of the chain which position is the p-osition in which they are held while they are at the rearwardly moving course of the chain.

If the lanes 16 are held in a vertical position while they are at the forwardly moving course of the chain they will act upon the air to tend to propel the machine rearwardly, or if the machine is moving forward they would tend to stop it, and if they are held in a substantially horizontal position while at the rearwardly movingcourse of the plane they will cooperate to form a more or less continuous supporting or sustainingplane. If upon reaching .the forward sprocket from the forwardly moving course of the chain and in a vertical position the planes 16 are released, the movement of air will cause them first to swing in the direction indicatedby the arrow B (see vumn of air.) The last approach the point where they leave the forward sprocket 21 lthey will then swing in the direction indicated by the arrow C to an o posite horizontal position. This is due to the fact that at B the wind is moving .relatively rearwardly, while at C the plane has acquired rearward velocity greater than the rearward movement of thc Wind. (The upper course of the carrier and planes is ofcourse always moving rearwardly faster than the wind moves rearwardly past the body; that is,h there is inevitably some slippage of the planes rearwardly through the rearwardly moving colmentioned horizontal position isthen the position in which the planes are held while they are at the rearwardly moving upper course of the chain. If the planes are then released upon reaching the rear sprocket 21 they will, as they lose rearward velocity going around the i sprocket, loel swung in the direction indicated by the arrow D in Fig. 3, by the rearward movement ofthe air relative to the machine; and will reach a position in which they are substantially normal of thechain, which is the position in which they are then held on the lower forwardly moving course of the chain.

The present invention rovides means for holding the planes relatlve to the chain in the several manners above described and provides control means for said holding means whereby the planes can be selectively held in the manners above described to cause the mechanism lto operate in either of the manners above described. To cause the machine to operate as illustrated in Fig. 1 the lanes 16 must be released at the forwar sprocket at about the point marked release in that figure, must be caught at the forward sprocket at about the point marked catch, must be released at the rear sprocket at about the point marked release, and must be caught at the rear sprocket at about the point marked catch. To cause the machine to operate in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3 the planes must be released at the forward sprocket at the point marked release, in that figure, must be caught at the forward sprocket at the point marked catch, must be released at the rear sprocket at the point marked release, and must be caught at the rear sprocket at the point marked catch. To hold the planes 16 in the various positions relative to the chain 20 I show a notched disk 45 iXed concentrically on each shaft 31 at the outer side of the chain, and I provide a catch or pawl 46 in connection with each link 30 to cooperate with the notched disk 45. In the construction shown in the drawings the notched disk 45 is not secured directly tothe shaft 31 but is se-v cured to the outer plane 16 so that it overhangs the bearing 38 which projects from the side of the link. The disk 45 has several suitably arranged and spaced notches or recesses. In the present case the disk has spring 51 is arranged in connection with the pawl 46 to normally hold it out or in a position to cooperate with a nptch. When the pawl 46 is in one of the notches in the disk 45 it will positively hold the shaft 31 and planes 16 against movement relative to the link 30. The notches 47, 48 and 49 being at various positions around the disk 45 the pawl when in different notches will hold the planes in different positions relative to the chain.` To carry out the operation above described it is only necessary to hold the planes in "three different positions relative to the chain, which positions are 90 apart, thus making it necessary to provide only three notches in the disk 45. It will be obvious that the planes could be held in any position relative to ,the chain and in numerous different positions relative to the chain by simply providing notches in the proper number and relation in the disk 45. In the present case when the pawl 46 is in the notch 47 the planes 16 are at substantially right angles to the chain with their large ends extending outwardly from the chain, as is desired atthe forwardly moving course of the chain when 'it is desired `to tend to propel the machine rearwardly. Vhen the pawl 46 is in the notch 48 the planesY are substantially parallel to the chain with their large ends extending in the direction opposite to that in which the chain is moving as is desired at the rearwardly moving course of the chain when the planes are vertical at the forwardly moving course of the chain and as is desired at the forwardly moving course of the chain when the planes are vertical at the rearwardly moving course of the chain. When the pawl 46 is in the notch 47 the planes are at substantially right angles to the chain with their large ends extending inwardly, as is desired at the rearwardly moving course of the chain when it is desired to propel the machine forwardly. From the foregoing description of the manner in which the planes will move relative to the chain, when released at certain parts of the sprocket, it will beunderstood how releasement of the pawls from the notches at the propertimes and for the proper period of tinie will allow the planes to change position relative .to the chain in the desired manner and will at the forward sprocket 21.

also allow the pawls to transfer from one notch to another.

In order that the pawls 46 may be released Y at the desired points and for the desired periods, or, in other words, to provide a control for the holding means, a roller 60 is con,- nected with eachpawl 46 and suitable cams and tracks ai'e provided for cooperating with the rollers to move and hold them at. the desired times and for the desired periods and thereby cause the desired movements of the pawls 46 at the desired times and for the. desired periods. The rollers 60 are carried on extensions 61 of the pawls so that they' are at the inside of the chain. The carriers 50 for the pawls and their extensions 61 extend into the recesses 35 in the sprockets when the links 30 are at the sprocket. In the particular machine set forth in the drawings there is a fixed cam strap 62 at the inner side of the forward sprocket wheel 21, shaped and positioned to engage the rollers 60 .upon the links 30 reaching the forward sprocket to the rollers inwardly so that the. pawls are, retracted from the notches. The cam strap is of such extent as to hold the pawl retracted. through approximately 90 movement. The cam'st-rap 62 may be carried by arms 6? extending from the bearing member which carries the shaft 20. A track member 64 is '7 slidably carried on the outside of the cam strap 62'A so that it can be moved to a position where it forms a continuation of the cam strap and thereby causes the rollersto be hel retracted through substantially 180o movement. The track 64 may be carried by arms 65 extending from a sleeve 66 which is rotatably carried on the outer portion of the bearing member 23. In practice the cam strap 62 may be made to retract the pawls enough in excess of that actually .required to retract them from the notches so that. they will not extend into the notches when held by the tiaek 64 which does not hold them retracted quite as much as the cam strap does. At the rear sprocket 21 there is a cam strap 70, similar in construction. mounting. and operation to theicam strap 62 at the forward sprocket, and there is a track 71 similar in construction and operation to the track 64 Theicam strap -is carried lby arms 72 extending from the bearing member which carries the shaft 24 and the track 71 is carried on the bearing member which carries the shaft 24. IVithllf) out further explanation it will be underthe cam strap 62 and the trackL 71 is not extended. For the purpose of controlling or operating the tracks 64 and 71 together I providethe rotatable. sleeves 66 and 76',.

which carry the tracks 64 and 71, respectively, with arms 80 and 81, respectively. A connectin rod 82 extends between the arms 80 and 81 connecting them so that movement of one will cause movement of the other. With the tracks 64 and 71 connected in the relative positions shown in Fig.' 4 it is possible, by 'simply moving the connecting rod' though means might readily be provided for,

interconnecting the two propulsion and sustaining means' 11 so that they can be simultaneously controlled or operated from a single member it is preferred that they be left so that they can rbe independently con'- trolled or operated as the machine might be directed by adjusting the'two means 11 to operate differently.

Having described only a referred embodimentof'my invention I o not want to limit myself to the specific details herein set forth but wish to reserve to myself various changes and modifications which may appear to those skilled in the art and which may fall within the scope of the following claims.

Having described a invent-ion, I claim:

1. Airplane propulsion mechanism, embodying an endless' carrier and spaced driving wheels therefor to drive the carrier in two opposite courses, planes movably mounted on the carrier, and means mounted on the carrier to hold the plane either substantiallyA parallel ornormal to its movement, and stationary manuall controllable means to control the plane ho ding means.

2. Airplane propulsion mechanism, embodying an endless carrier and spaced driving .wheels therefor to drive the carrier in two opposite courses, a Vplurality of planes spaced along the carrier and pivotally mountedthereon, a releasable -holding device mounted on the carrier near each plane and adapted to hold the planein a posi-4 tion substantially parallel to 4the carrier or substantially normal to it, and stationary cam mechanism to actuat'e the holding means. i i

3. Airplane propulsion mechanism,l embodying an endless carrier andl means to move it longitudinally, planes pivotally mounted on the carrier, each plane comprising two parts, lying on opposite sides of the carrler preferred form of my body.

and a common shaft 011 which both parts are mounted; and means to hold the planes in fixed definite relation to the carrier.

l1. A flying machine of the class described having a body, an endless driving means connected to each side of the body, a pair 0f plane -members pivoted to said driving means, means for moving said plane members in one direction substantially in a horizontal position, means for moving said plane members in the opposite direction in substantially a vertical position, means for holding the plane members in their said positions and manually operated controlling means for actuating said plane holdlng means.

.5. A flying machine having a body, propulsion means mounted on opposite sidesof the body, each of said propulsion means comprising a pair of laterally spaced planes,

means for alternately moving said planes in opposite directions, means for holding f the planes in ahorlzontal position when they are moved in one direction, means for holding the plane in a vertical position when moved in the opposite direction, and manually operated controlling means for actuating the plane holding means to control the position of the plane relative to the 6. A propulsion mechanism for iiying machines comprising an endless carrier, a pair of laterally spaced plane membersjournalled to said carrier, means mounted on Said carrier for holdin the planes substantially parallel to t eir movement in one direction, and perpendicular to their movement in the opposlte direction.

,7. A propulsion mechanism. for flying machines comprising an endless carrier, a pair of laterally spaced plane membersjournalled to said carrier, means mounted on Said carrier for holding the planes substantiall parallel to their movement in one directlon, and perpendicular to their movement in the opposite direction, and means for automatically releasing said holding means at predetermined pomts in the path of movement of the carrier. 1

8. A propulsion mechanism for flylng machines comprising an endless carrier, a pair of laterally spaced plane members ]our nalled to said carrier having longer surfaces on one side of the `carrier than the other, means mounted on said carrler for holding the planes substantially parallel to their movement in one directron and perpendicular to theirA mavementl 1n the vopposite direction.

In witness that I claim the fore omg I have hereunto subscribed my name t is 23d day of September 1921.

RICHARD PAZOS-MARTINEZ. Witness VIRGINIA BRINGER. 

